The End Of The Special Contract Marriage (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 172
“…What did you say?”
Howard turned to Aracila with a hardened expression. Aracila met his gaze without flinching and spoke clearly and deliberately.
“You resent Duke Vandermir and blame House Vandermir—I understand that. But isn’t it shameful to pour that resentment onto a child?”
“Don’t speak so recklessly about things you don’t understand!”
“That’s precisely what I’d like to say to you. Do you even know how Damian grew up? Do you know why he’s estranged from his family?”
Aracila’s voice trembled faintly at the end. Howard wasn’t the only one who suffered from Monica’s death.
Even so, he was an adult who could at least hold himself together—but little Damian was left utterly alone in a house where everyone but his mother was his enemy.
While Howard drowned in grief over losing his daughter, Damian couldn’t even allow himself that luxury.
“House Vandermir inflicted terrible cruelty on young Damian. They abused him endlessly and tried to kill him more than once. Even while his mother was alive, Damian fought alone in isolation; after her death, he dedicated his entire life to avenging her.”
Yet Howard still treated Damian as if he were part of the same faction as House Vandermir—merely because he carried their blood.
Because of this, Damian grew to hate the blood running through his veins, living his life endlessly doubting himself and unable to love who he was.
This was precisely what angered Aracila the most. Howard spoke as if he alone had suffered and struggled, but she knew the truth—the one who truly endured agony was the abandoned child.
“Did you truly not know any of this? Or did you choose to ignore it despite knowing?”
The question struck Howard’s chest like an arrow. He could only stare silently at Aracila, unable to utter a word.
He had known that tensions within House Vandermir regarding Damian were far from normal after his daughter’s death—but he hadn’t wanted to get involved.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
Thank you for translating/sharing this. Such an adorable story!